scholarly journals Androids, Oracles and Free Will

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sekatskaya
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
Persuasive Arguments

Abstract Claims about freedom and predestination are ubiquitous in movies, novels, and myths. These claims touch upon the philosophical problem of the compatibility of free will and determination. In order to make an informed judgment about whether these claims are true, it is helpful to know what philosophers have to say about free will. However, philosophical discussions are usually absent in popular culture. It is perhaps no wonder, since free will is a topic that has been discussed for millennia. Consequently, these discussions have become quite complicated and not easy to decipher. This essay is a popular introduction to these discussions, accessible to readers without former acquaintance with the topic. I provide references to other works for readers interested in knowing more. My aim is to show that while there are persuasive arguments against free will, there are no fewer persuasive replies to these arguments. Free will is a fascinating topic, and I hope that acquaintance with the relevant philosophical discussion will prove useful for those who wonder if anyone is free to create their own destiny.

Foregrounding ontology: dualism, monism, and IR theory

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICK THADDEUS JACKSON
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Knowledge Claims

AbstractWhile the recent proliferation in philosophical discussions in International Relations indicates a welcome increase in the discipline’s conceptual sophistication, a central issue has gone relatively unremarked: the question of how to understand the relationship between scholarly observers and their observed objects. This classical philosophical problem has a number of implications for the conduct of inquiry in the discipline, and raises particular challenges for the status of knowledge-claims advanced by constructivists. I clarify these issues and challenges by distinguishing between ‘dualist’ and ‘monist’ ontological standpoints, in the hope of provoking a more focused philosophical discussion.

scholarly journals Wittgenstein on Freedom of the Will: Not Determinism, Yet Not Indeterminism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Nadelhoffer
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Freedom Of The Will ◽  
The Will

Since the publication of Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Freedom of the Will in 1989, his remarks about free will and determinism have received very little attention. Insofar as these lectures give us an opportunity to see him at work on a traditional—and seemingly intractable—philosophical problem and given the voluminous secondary literature written about nearly every other facet of Wittgenstein’s life and philosophy, this neglect is both surprising and unfortunate. Perhaps these lectures have not attracted much attention because they are available to us only in the form of a single student’s notes (Yorick Smythies). Or perhaps it is because, as one Wittgenstein scholar put it, the lectures represent only “cursory reflections” that “are themselves uncompelling." Either way, my goal is to show that Wittgenstein’s views about freedom of the will merit closer attention.

Found in Translation

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-127
Author(s):  
Susanne Bobzien
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Nicomachean Ethics ◽  
Philosophical Significance ◽  
General Opinion ◽  
The Way

This chapter researches the reception of the crucial sentence in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 3.5, 1113b7–8 about that which is up to us (eph’hēmin), the philosophical significance of which is the topic of the previous chapter. This sentence has markedly shaped both scholarly and general opinion with regard to Aristotle’s theory of free will. In addition, it has taken on a curious life of its own. Part One of the chapter examines the text itself. Part Two explores its reception from antiquity to the present day, including present-day popular culture, later ancient, Byzantine, Arabic, Latin Medieval, Renaissance, Victorian, and contemporary scholarship, and how it influenced the interpretation of Aristotle’s view on free will. There are some surprises on the way. (The paper also serves as an introduction to the reception of the Nicomachean Ethics from its beginnings to the present.)

scholarly journals Free Will, Determinism and the “Problem” of Structure and Agency in the Social Sciences

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Pleasants
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holocaust

The so-called “problem” of structure and agency is clearly related to the philosophical problem of free will and determinism, yet the central philosophical issues are not well understood by theorists of structure and agency in the social sciences. In this article I draw a map of the available stances on the metaphysics of free will and determinism. With the aid of this map the problem of structure and agency will be seen to dissolve. The problem of structure and agency is sustained by a failure to distinguish between metaphysical and empirical senses of the relation between social structure and individual agency. The ramifications of this distinction are illustrated via a case study of competing explanations of perpetrator behavior in Christopher Browning’s and Daniel Goldhagen’s studies of the German Order Police in the Holocaust.

THE FOUNDATIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF WAVE MECHANICS

1947 ◽  
Vol 25a (2) ◽  
pp. 96-117
Author(s):  
Seyuan Shu
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Wave Mechanics ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Fundamental Formula

This paper attempts to show:(a) The nature of the basic assumptions made either explicitly or implicitly by L. de Broglie in arriving at the fundamental formula, [Formula: see text], of wave mechanics, and that at least some of these assumptions are open to criticism.(b) That it is a little too hasty to regard as demonstrated the non-localization of photons or electrons in motion and the lack of determinism with respect to them.(c) That the presuppositions which lead to the 'relations of incertitude' involve highly arbitrary elements and these 'relations' are read into or arbitrarily imposed upon the physical world rather than really found to be in it.(d) That it is an unwarranted claim that the new mechanics can contribute to the solution of the age-long philosophical problem of free will.(e) That it is possible to render the foundations of wave mechanics logically independent of the theory of relativity.

scholarly journals ALIENASI RELIGIUS DALAM FILM PEREMPUAN BERKALUNG SORBAN

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Danial Hidayatullah
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Literary Tradition ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Common Theme ◽  
Patriarchal Society ◽  
Psychological Conflict

In Western literary tradition, alienation is a common theme. This theme has been identified since the Shakespearean era. Yet, in Indonesian literary tradition alienation is a novelty. This paper aims at analyzing the emergence as well as the significance of this theme in the Indonesian context. In Western context, alienation occurs within the absence of God or within the materialistic society while in Indonesian context, in this case in Perempuan Berkalung Sorban, it occurs in a strong religious atmosphere. The main character, Anisa experiences alienation caused by the interpretation of religion by patriarchal society. The psychological conflict between religious rules and free will is so intense that the main character is trapped in a deep confusion. Therefore this research is intended to examine how the religious alienation can be explained in Indonesian context. This paper provides the explanation on how this movie—Perempuan Berkalung Sorban—fits into the category of the movie that criticizes religion. The emergence of a new theme in a popular culture mainstream can be seen as a new awareness in Indonesian culture. 

The dream body in somatic psychology

Gesture ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine Young
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Philosophical Problem ◽  
Somatic Psychology ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Therapeutic Session ◽  
Pictorial Representations ◽  
The Way

Gestures have been investigated primarily as pictorial representations intended to communicate information to their perceivers visually. This paper argues that affiliative gestures, the gestures affiliated with words, are neither visual nor communicative. They are kinaesthetic apprehensions directed by gesturers to themselves. Perceivers do glean information from the gestures but this is not their primary intent. Gestural practices in a somatic therapeutic session provide a unique opportunity to examine the way gestures can be used to influence the gesturer. Specifically, gestures invest the gesturer in the narrative realm she conjures up on the therapeutic occasion, in this instance, a dream world. The somaticist then uses embodiments from the virtual space of the dream narrative to effect change on the therapeutic occasion. This practice illuminates the philosophical problem of free will: how we are able to influence our own embodied processes volitionally.

Evil, problem of

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn McCord Adams
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
Logical Consistency

In this context, ‘evil’ is given the widest possible scope to signify all of life’s minuses. Within this range, philosophers and theologians distinguish ‘moral evils’ such as war, betrayal and cruelty from ‘natural evils’ such as earthquakes, floods and disease. Usually the inescapability of death is numbered among the greatest natural evils. The existence of broad-sense evils is obvious and spawns a variety of problems, most prominently the practical one of how to cope with life and the existential one of what sort of meaning human life can have. Philosophical discussion has focused on two theoretical difficulties posed for biblical theism. First, does the existence of evils show biblical theism to be logically inconsistent? Is it logically possible for an omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly good God to create a world containing evil? One classical response to this, following Leibniz, is to argue that such a God would create the best of all possible worlds, but that such a world may contain evil as an indispensable element. Alternatively, evil may be an unavoidable consequence of the boon of free will, or it may be part of a divine plan to ensure that all souls attain perfection. The second difficulty for biblical theism is, even if we grant logical consistency, does evil (in the form, for instance, of apparently pointless suffering) nevertheless count as evidence against the existence of the Bible’s God? One frequent theistic response here is to argue that the apparent pointlessness of evil may be merely a result of our limited cognitive powers; things would appear the same to us whether or not there were a point, so it is not legitimate to argue from the evidence.

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